Information presentation controlling apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

In information presentation controlling apparatus and method, a detecting section detects a running state of a mobile body and a running environment thereof, a mental fatigue calculating section calculates a mental fatigue that an operator of the mobile body (specifically, a vehicle driver) suffers due to an operation of the mobile body (an automotive vehicle) from a result of detection by the detecting section, a producing section produces the information to the operator of the mobile body, and an information presentation controlling section controls the information to be produced to the operator of the mobile body through the producing section in accordance with the mental fatigue calculated by the mental fatigue calculating section.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to information presentationcontrolling apparatus and method for presenting various kinds ofinformation so as to produce each of various kinds of information to anoperator which operates a movable body (or mobile body such as anautomotive vehicle).

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. Heisei7-277041 published on Oct. 24, 1996 exemplifies a previously proposedinformation presentation controlling apparatus which produces avehicular run assistance information and a various kinds of informationto a driver (the operator) that manipulates a vehicle in accordance witha vehicular running state and a vehicular running environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In the previously proposed information presentation controllingapparatus, however, a control of the presentation of the information tobe produced to the driver is not carried out, with a mental fatigueaccumulated in the vehicle driver (or operator) in accordance with achange in the running environment taken into consideration. For example,the driver carries out the vehicular manipulation during a vehicular runon a freeway (or highway) from a departure point of location can easilyrecognize a plurality of information displayed through an informationdisplay image screen since the mental fatigue due to a vehicularmanipulation number of times is not so high. However, the driver carriesout many manipulations of the vehicle due to the vehicular run onnational roadways from the departure point and the vehicle has passedthrough a plurality of traffic intersections and curved road so that thedriver has accumulated a large amount of mental fatigues and requiresmore forces of concentrations to recognize the plurality of informationdisplayed on the information producing display image.

[0006] It is, hence, an object of the present invention to provideimproved information presentation controlling apparatus and method whichare capable of adjustably controlling the information to be produced tothe driver (in broad sense of the term, the operator of the mobile body)in accordance with a mental fatigue accumulated in the driver due tomanipulations by the vehicle driver.

[0007] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information presentation controlling apparatus, comprising:a detecting section that detects a running state of a mobile body and arunning environment thereof; a mental fatigue calculating section thatcalculates a mental fatigue that an operator of the mobile body suffersdue to an operation of the mobile body from a result of detection by thedetecting section; a producing section that produces the information tothe operator of the mobile body; and an information presentationcontrolling section that controls the information to be produced to theoperator of the mobile body through the producing section in accordancewith the mental fatigue calculated by the mental fatigue calculatingsection.

[0008] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information presentation controlling apparatus for anautomotive vehicle, comprising: a running environment informationretrieving section that retrieves an information on a runningenvironment of the vehicle and estimates a degree of a mental fatiguethat the vehicle driver would normally suffer during a drive of thevehicle from the retrieved running environment for each predeterminedtime interval; a vehicular running situation detecting section thatdetects a vehicular running situation and estimates a corrective mentalfatigue that the vehicle driver would suffer due to a sudden happeningduring the drive of the vehicle from the detected vehicular runningsituation for each predetermined time interval; an accumulated mentalfatigue calculating section that adds the corrective mental fatigueestimated by the vehicular running situation detecting section to themental fatigue estimated from the running environment informationretrieving section so as to determine an accumulated mental fatigue; andan information presentation controlling section that controls a quantityof information to be presented to the vehicle driver through a producingsection in accordance with a magnitude of the accumulated mentalfatigue.

[0009] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information presentation controlling method, comprising:detecting a running state of a mobile body and a running environmentthereof; calculating a mental fatigue that an operator of the mobilebody suffers due to an operation of the mobile body from a result ofdetecting the running state of the mobile body and the runningenvironment thereof; producing the information to the operator of themobile body through a producing section; and controlling the informationto be produced to the operator of the mobile body through the producingsection in accordance with the calculated mental fatigue.

[0010] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there isprovided an information presentation controlling method for anautomotive vehicle, comprising: retrieving an information on a runningenvironment of the vehicle; estimating a degree of a mental fatigue thatthe vehicle driver would normally suffer during a drive of the vehiclefrom the retrieved running environment for each predetermined timeinterval; detecting a vehicular running situation; estimating acorrective mental fatigue that the vehicle driver would suffer due to asudden happening during the drive of the vehicle from the detectedvehicular running situation for each predetermined time interval; addingthe estimated corrective mental fatigue to the estimated mental fatigueso as to determine an accumulated mental fatigue; and controlling aquantity of information to be presented to the vehicle driver through aproducing section in accordance with a magnitude of the accumulatedmental fatigue.

[0011] This summary of the invention doe not necessarily describe allnecessary features so that the invention may also be a sub-combinationof these described features.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a schematic functional block diagram of an informationpresentation controlling apparatus in a preferred embodiment accordingto the present invention.

[0013]FIG. 2 is an operational flowchart for explaining an operationalflow of an accumulated information presentation controlling apparatusshown in FIG. 1.

[0014]FIG. 3 is an detailed flowchart for explaining a flow of theaccumulated mental fatigue calculating process shown in FIG. 2.

[0015]FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D are explanatory view for explaining arelationship between a running environment and a mental fatigue.

[0016]FIG. 5 is an explanatory view for explaining a relationshipbetween the accumulated mental fatigue and the information to beproduced to a vehicle driver.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0017] Reference will hereinafter be made to the drawings in order tofacilitate a better understanding of the present invention.

[0018] The present invention has a basic concept such that a mentalfatigue accumulated in a vehicle driver in accordance with a change in arunning environment during a drive of an automotive vehicle iscalculated and in accordance with the calculated mental fatigue theinformation to be produced to the driver is varied. The mental fatiguethat the driver has suffered due to a sudden happening other than themental fatigue caused by the change in the running environment iscalculated as a corrective mental fatigue so as to be added to themental fatigue. Consequently, a more accurate grasping of the mentalfatigue that the driver suffers can be achieved.

[0019]FIG. 1 shows a schematic functional block diagram of aninformation presentation controlling apparatus in a preferred embodimentaccording to the present invention.

[0020] In FIG. 1, a sensor group 10 having a plurality of detectingsections to detect a vehicular state and a running environment and aroad map data base 20 are connected to an information presentationcontrolling section 30. In addition, a display 40 and a speaker 50 areconnected to information presentation controlling section 30.Information presentation controlling section 30 receives the informationfrom sensor group 10 and road map data base 20 and calculates the mentalfatigue that the driver receives. In accordance with the calculatedmental fatigue, information presentation controlling section 30 controlsthe information produced to the driver via display 40 and speaker 50 inaccordance with the calculated mental fatigue.

[0021] Sensor group 10 outputs the information from each detectingsection to an input section 31 within information presentationcontrolling section 30. Sensor group 20 outputs the information fromeach detecting section to an input section 31 within informationpresentation controlling section 30. Sensor group 10 includes a positiondetecting section 11, a (vehicular) velocity detecting section 12, awiper detecting section 13, a winker detecting section 14, a brakedepression velocity detecting section 15, a steering speed detectingsection 16, an accelerator opening angle detecting section 17, and avehicular interval (inter-vehicle) distance detecting section 18.

[0022] Position detecting section 11 serves to obtain the presentposition of the vehicle and the present date by receiving electric wavesreceived from a plurality of measuring satellites using a GPS (GlobalPositioning System) antenna. Velocity detecting section 12 detects avelocity of the vehicle. Wiper detecting section 13 detects a presenceor absence of a use of a wiper installed on the vehicle. Winkerdetecting section 14 detects the presence or absence of a use of awinker during the vehicular run on a left or right turn. Furthermore,brake depression velocity detecting section 15 detects an angularvelocity of a brake pedal depression when the driver depresses the brakepedal.

[0023] Steering detecting section 16 detects the angular velocity of asteering wheel of the vehicle when the driver steers the steering wheelin a leftward or rightward direction as viewed from the driver.Accelerator opening angle detecting section 17 serves to detect theangular velocity when the driver depresses an accelerator pedal.Inter-vehicle distance detecting section 18 detects the distance betweenthe vehicle (host vehicle) and a preceding vehicle running ahead of thehost vehicle. In addition, road map data base 20 stores the position ofthe host vehicle (the vehicle in which the information presentationcontrolling apparatus according to the present invention is mounted) andthe road information (for example, a road shape, a road attribute(property), a kind of road, and a traffic intersection).

[0024] Information presentation controlling section 30 includes an inputsection 31, a mental fatigue calculating (estimating) section 32, acorrective mental fatigue calculating (estimating) section 33, and anaccumulated mental fatigue calculating section 34, and informationproducing section 35. Input section 31 inputs various kinds ofinformation from sensor group 10 and road map data base 20. Inputsection 31, then, outputs the mental fatigue calculating information tomental fatigue calculating section 32 and corrective mental fatiguecalculating section 33. Mental fatigue calculating section 32 calculatesthe mental fatigue from mental fatigue calculating information inputtedand calculates the corrective mental fatigue from the inputted mentalfatigue calculating information inputted. Producing section 35 controlsthe information produced by speaker 40 and display 50 on the basis ofthe calculated accumulated mental fatigue.

[0025] Input section 31 has functions as follows: obtaining theinformation from sensor group 10; retrieving the road information fromroad map data base 20 according to the positional information detectedby the position detecting section 11; determining whether the road shaperetrieved from road information is in the curved road or straight lineroad; calculating a day of a week according to the date detected byposition detecting section 11; determining a weather according to thepresence or absence of the use of wipers retrieved from a wiperdetecting section 13; and outputting the retrieved various informationand the above-described calculated information as the mental fatiguecalculating information to mental fatigue calculating section 32 and tocorrective mental fatigue calculating section 33. Mental fatiguecalculating section 32 calculates a mental fatigue for a predeterminedinterval of distance that the driver ordinarily (or normally) receives(suffers) due to the variation in the running environment during thedrive of the vehicle according to the calculated mental fatigueinformation inputted and outputs the calculated mental fatigue as themental fatigue to accumulated mental fatigue calculating section 34. Inaddition, according to the mental fatigue calculating informationinputted, the corrective mental fatigue calculating section 33calculates the mental fatigue that the driver receives from the suddenhappening (accident) and outputs the calculated mental fatigue as beingthe corrected (corrective) mental fatigue to accumulated mental fatiguecalculating section 34.

[0026] Accumulated mental fatigue calculating section 34 calculates themental fatigue that the driver suffers during the drive of the vehicleusing the inputted mental fatigue and corrective mental fatigue andoutputs the calculated result as accumulated mental fatigue to(information) producing section 35. Producing section 35 prepares theinformation to be produced to the driver in accordance with the inputtedaccumulated mental fatigue. The contents of producing the informationare outputted to display 40 and/or speaker 50. It is noted that theinformation presentation controlling section 30 includes a microcomputerhaving a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM(Random Access Memory), an Input/Output interface, and a common bus.

[0027] Next, FIG. 2 shows an operational flowchart for explaining anoperation of the information presentation controlling apparatus in theembodiment described above.

[0028] A vehicular system power supply is turned on and a series ofprocesses are started. At a step 100, information presentationcontrolling section 30 initializes (T=0) a parameter (T) to measure atime width of a predetermined interval of time. At a step 101, inaccordance with a passage of time from a time at which the vehicularsystem power supply is turned off, a value of the accumulated mentalfatigue (W) stored at a step 106, as will be described later, isreduced. This is because when the vehicular power supply is turned off,the driver is deemed to take a rest and the accumulated mental fatigue(W) is reduced. It is noted that, in the initialized state whereinaccumulated mental fatigue (W) is not calculated, informationpresentation controlling section 30 determines that no accumulatedmental fatigue is not present and the routine jumps to a step 102.

[0029] At step 102, information presentation controlling section 30retrieves the information on the vehicular state from sensor group 10and inputs the retrieved information to input section 31. Input section31 determines the road shape viz., whether the road is straight road(straight line) or curved road (curved form). In addition, input section31 calculates the day of a week from the information on the datereceived from sensor group 10, calculates the weather viz., calculates arainy weather when the use of the wiper is recognized and a fine weatherwhen the use of the wiper is not present, and outputs the retrievedinformation from each detecting section of sensor group 10 to mentalfatigue calculating section 32. The predetermined information detectedby sensor group 10 is outputted to corrective mental fatigue calculatingsection 33.

[0030] At a step 103, information presentation controlling section 30adds a time (Tnow) during which the information from sensor group 10 ispresently inputted at step 102 to parameter (T) to measure the timewidth of the predetermined interval of time so as to update parameter(T) (T=T+Tnow). At a step 104, information presentation controllingsection 30 determines whether parameter (T) is in excess of apredetermined time interval (Tth), for example, five seconds. If T>Tth(Yes) at step 104, the routine goes to a step 108. If T≦Tth (No) at step104, the routine goes to a step 105. The predetermined time interval(Tth) is a reference value to perform a mental fatigue calculationprocessing at a constant interval and, if parameter (T) is in excess ofpredetermined time interval (Tth) (Yes at step 104), the mental fatigueis calculated as will be described later.

[0031] Then, at step 105, if accumulated mental fatigue (W) iscalculated at a step 111 as will be described later, informationpresentation controlling section 30 modifies the contents to be producedto the driver via display 40 and speaker 50 in accordance with theaccumulated mental fatigue (W) calculated at the step 111. The contentsto be produced to the driver are modified in accordance with theaccumulated mental fatigue (W) presently stored when the accumulatedmental fatigue (W) is not calculated. For example, as shown in FIG. 5,the accumulated mental fatigue in the driver is increased or decreasedby moving various locations while driving the vehicle.

[0032] When the accumulated mental fatigue is low, the mental fatiguethat the driver suffers is less so that a complex recognition of theinformation to be produced is possible. Hence, in this case, characterstrings of two rows and graphics are displayed, as shown in FIG. 5, andspeaker 50 provides much information quantities. In addition, when theaccumulated mental fatigue is in a middle range, the contents ofinformation to be produced to the driver is such that only two characterstrings are displayed through display 40 and a small quantity ofinformation are outputted through speaker 50. Furthermore, when theaccumulated mental fatigue is high, the mental fatigue to the driver isexcessively much so that it is difficult to recognize a complexinformation presentation. Hence, the contents of information to beproduced to the driver are such that only one character string isdisplayed through display 40 and no output through speaker 50 is carriedout.

[0033] As described above, the information to be produced to the driverthrough display 40 and speaker 50 is restricted to only those having ahigh priority to be produced as the accumulated mental fatigue of driverbecomes high and the information quantity is reduced. Hence, even whenthe mental fatigue by the driver is high, the information having a highpriority to be produced can be recognized.

[0034] Referring back to FIG. 2, at a step 106, information presentationcontrolling section 30 stores the accumulated mental fatigue (W) on thebasis of which the information is produced to the driver at the presentstep 105. It is noted that the stored accumulated mental fatigue (W) isused to perform the processing when the accumulated mental fatigue isreduced at step 101 when, at the next routine, the vehicular systempower supply is turned on and the mental fatigue calculation procedureis started. At a step 107, if the vehicular system power supply isturned off (Yes), the present routine shown in FIG. 2 is ended. On theother hand, if no power supply is turned off (No) at step 107, theroutine jumps to step 102.

[0035] It is noted that, at step 104, if T>Tth (Yes), the routine goesto a step 108. At step 108, the value of parameter (T) is initialized(T=0). At the next step 109, such a process as to calculate the mentalfatigue (A) that the driver receives for the predetermined time widthfrom the time of T=0 to the time of T=Tth is executed. At the next step110, such a corrective mental fatigue (B) that the driver receives alongthe predetermined time width fro the time of T=0 to a time of T=Tth iscalculated. At a step 111, the mental fatigue (A) derived at the presentprocessing and the corrective mental fatigue (B) are added to thepresently stored accumulated mental fatigue (W) so as to update theaccumulated mental fatigue (W) and the present routine goes to step 104described above.

[0036] Next, FIG. 3 shows each detailed processing routine of steps 109and 110 shown in FIG. 2.

[0037] At a step 200, mental fatigue calculating section 32 calculates afirst mental fatigue (A1) according to a road property (attribute) andkind of road inputted from input section 31. A method of calculatingfirst mental fatigue (A1) is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A, in thecase of a general road, the mental fatigue is supposed to be 0.5, in thecase of a national roadway, the mental fatigue is supposed to be 1, andin the case of the freeway road (highway), the mental fatigue issupposed to be 0.3. This value of the mental fatigue may be modifiedaccording to the present vehicular velocity (for example, in the generalroad, the vehicular velocity is 80 km/h or higher, the mental fatigue issupposed to be 1).

[0038] At the next step 201, mental fatigue calculating section 32calculates a second mental fatigue (A2) according to the inputted roadshape information. A method of calculating the second mental fatigue is,for example, as shown in FIG. 4B, in a case where the road shape is thecurved road, the mental fatigue is supposed to be 1, in the case wherethe road shape is the straight road, the mental fatigue is supposed tobe zero, and in the case where the road shape is an intersection(provided that the winker is operated for the vehicle to indicate theturn right or left), the mental fatigue is supposed to be 1.5.

[0039] At the next step 202, mental fatigue calculating section 32calculates a third mental fatigue (A3) according to the information onthe inputted day of the week and date. A method of calculating thismental fatigue is, as shown in FIG. 4C, such that, in a case when it isa time from six o'clock to eight o'clock of the normal week day, themental fatigue is supposed to be 2, in a case when it is a time from 8o'clock up to 18 o'clock, the mental fatigue is supposed to be 0, and,in a case when it is a time from 18 o'clock to 6 o'clock, the mentalfatigue is supposed to be 1.

[0040] At a step 203, mental fatigue calculating section 32 calculates afourth mental fatigue (A4) according to the weather informationinputted. A method of calculating this mental fatigue (A4) is, as shownin FIG. 4D, such that, in a case where the weather is fine, the mentalfatigue is supposed to be 0 and, in a case where the weather is rainy,the mental fatigue is supposed to be 1.

[0041] At a step 204, mental fatigue calculating section 32 calculates atotal mental fatigue (A) for the predetermined time width by addingfirst through fourth mental fatigue values (A=A1+A2+A3+A4) calculated atsteps 200 through 203. Steps 200 through 204 denote mental fatiguecalculating process at step 109 shown in FIG. 1.

[0042] Next, at a step 205, corrective mental fatigue calculatingsection 33 substitutes a predetermined value (for example, B1=30) intocorrective mental fatigue (B1) if the angular velocity of depression ofthe brake pedal by the driver is in excess of a predetermined value onthe basis of the inputted mental fatigue calculation informationinputted from input section 31 when the driver depresses brake pedal(for example, in a case where a depression angle equal to or deeper than15 degrees is present).

[0043] At the next step 206, corrective mental fatigue calculatingsection 33 substitutes a predetermined value (B2=30) into correctivemental fatigue (B2) if an angular velocity when the driver turns thesteering wheel of the vehicle in the leftward or rightward direction isin excess of a predetermined value (for example, in a case where thedriver turns the steering wheel in the leftward or rightward directionequal to or wider than 15 degrees for 10 milliseconds). At the next step207, corrective mental fatigue calculating section 33 substitutes apredetermined value into corrective mental fatigue (B3) in a case wherethe angular velocity when the driver depresses the accelerator pedal isintegrated for a predetermined interval and the integrated value isequal to or larger than a predetermined value or the distance to thepreceding vehicle is equal to or shorter than the predetermined value(It is noted that the predetermined value on the distance is varied inaccordance with the vehicular velocity. For example, if the vehicularvelocity is 80 Km/h, the inter-vehicle distance predetermined value isset to 10 meters and, if the vehicular velocity is 50 Km/h, thepredetermined value is set to 5 meters.).

[0044] At a step 208, corrective mental fatigue calculating section 33calculates the corrective mental fatigue (B) for the predetermined timewidth by adding the calculated corrective mental fatigue values (B1, B2,and B3) calculated at steps 205 through 207 together. Steps 205 through208 represent the corrective mental fatigue calculating procedure atstep 110.

[0045] As described above, the mental fatigue (A) that the driverreceives through the ordinary driving operations is added to thecorrective mental fatigue (B) that receives due to the occurrence of thesudden accident to calculate the accumulated mental fatigue. Hence, amore accurate mental fatigue that the driver receives can be grasped.

[0046] In the embodiment described above, sensor group 10 constitutesdetecting means, display 40 and speaker 50 constitutes producing means.In addition, steps 200 through 208 constitute mental fatigue calculatingmeans and producing section 35 constitute information producing controlmeans.

[0047] In the information producing control apparatus in the embodiment,the information to be produced to the driver via display 40 and speaker50 is controlled in accordance with the mental fatigue accumulated inthe driver due to various causes when the driver drives the vehicle sothat, in the driver's mental state, a most recognizable informationproduction can be carried out. When the mental fatigue that the driversuffers indicates much mental fatigue, only the information having thehigh priority is produced. Thus, a force of the concentration requiredto recognize the information to be produced to the driver can bereduced. Thus, the driver can concentrate on the driving. It is notedthat, in the embodiment, the accumulated mental fatigue is calculatedfor each predetermined time width. However, it is possible to calculatedthe accumulated mental fatigue whenever the vehicle has moved by apredetermined interval of distance (the predetermined interval ofdistance may be monitored by an odometer of the vehicle). It is alsonoted that, in the embodiment, the information presentation controllingapparatus is applied to the automotive vehicle. However, the presentinvention is applicable to a two-wheel motor cycle or other mobilebodies.

[0048] It is also noted that, in the embodiment, display 40 and speaker50 have been used as producing means. However, the producing means maybe constituted by only display 40, or alternatively, any other devicemay be constituted by the producing means. It is, furthermore, notedthat the running environment information retrieving section defined inclaims includes position detecting section 11, velocity detectingsection 12, wiper detecting section 13, and winker detecting section 14,road map data base 20, input section 31, and mental fatigue calculatingsection 32, the vehicular running situation detecting section defined inclaims includes velocity detecting section 12, brake depression speeddetecting section 15, steering speed detecting section 16, acceleratoropening angle detecting section 17, inter-vehicle distance detectingsection 18, input section 31, and corrective mental fatigue calculatingsection 33, and producing section (or presenting section) defined inclaims includes at lest one of display 40 or speaker 50 in addition toproducing section 35 shown in FIG. 1.

[0049] The present invention is not limited to those embodimentsdescribed above and it is apparent that various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the sprit and scope ofthe present invention which is defined in the appended claims.

[0050] The entire contents of a Japanese Patent Application No.2002-080533 (filed in Japan on Mar. 22, 2002) are herein incorporated byreference. The scope of the invention is defined with reference to thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information presentation controllingapparatus, comprising: a detecting section that detects a running stateof a mobile body and a running environment thereof; a mental fatiguecalculating section that calculates a mental fatigue that an operator ofthe mobile body suffers due to an operation of the mobile body from aresult of detection by the detecting section; a producing section thatproduces the information to the operator of the mobile body; and aninformation presentation controlling section that controls theinformation to be produced to the operator of the mobile body throughthe producing section in accordance with the mental fatigue calculatedby the mental fatigue calculating section.
 2. An informationpresentation controlling apparatus for a mobile body as claimed in claim1, wherein the detecting section detects property and kind of a road onwhich the mobile body is running.
 3. An information presentationcontrolling apparatus for a mobile body as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe detecting section detects a shape of a road segment on which themobile body is running.
 4. An information presentation controllingapparatus for a mobile body as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detectingsection detects a brake manipulation by the operator.
 5. An informationpresentation controlling apparatus for a mobile body as claimed in claim1, wherein the detecting section detects a steering operation by theoperator.
 6. An information presentation controlling apparatus for amobile body as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detecting section detectsa distance between a surrounding another mobile body and the mobilebody.
 7. An information presentation controlling apparatus for a mobilebody as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detecting section detects anaccelerator manipulated variable of an accelerator.
 8. An informationpresentation controlling apparatus for a mobile body as claimed in claim1, wherein the mental fatigue calculating section calculates the mentalfatigue for each predetermined time.
 9. An information presentationcontrolling apparatus for a mobile body as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe mental fatigue calculating section calculates the mental fatigue foreach predetermined distance of travel of the mobile body.
 10. Aninformation presentation controlling apparatus for a mobile body asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile body is an automotive vehicle,the operator includes a vehicle driver, and the information producingsection includes at least one of speaker and display.
 11. An informationpresentation controlling apparatus for an automotive vehicle,comprising: a running environment information retrieving section thatretrieves an information on a running environment of the vehicle andestimates a degree of a mental fatigue that the vehicle driver wouldnormally suffer during a drive of the vehicle from the retrieved runningenvironment for each predetermined time interval; a vehicular runningsituation detecting section that detects a vehicular running situationand estimates a corrective mental fatigue that the vehicle driver wouldsuffer due to a sudden happening during the drive of the vehicle fromthe detected vehicular running situation for each predetermined timeinterval; an accumulated mental fatigue calculating section that addsthe corrective mental fatigue estimated by the vehicular runningsituation detecting section to the mental fatigue estimated from therunning environment information retrieving section so as to determine anaccumulated mental fatigue; and an information presentation controllingsection that controls a quantity of information to be presented to thevehicle driver through a producing section in accordance with amagnitude of the accumulated mental fatigue.
 12. An informationpresentation controlling apparatus for an automotive vehicle as claimedin claim 11, wherein, as the accumulated mental fatigue determined bythe accumulated mental fatigue calculating section becomes increased,the quantity of the information to be presented to the vehicle driverbecomes reduced.
 13. An information presentation controlling apparatusfor an automotive vehicle as claimed in claim 11, wherein a plurality ofinformation to be produced to the vehicle driver have priorities and, asthe accumulated mental fatigue calculating section becomes increased,any information having low priorities are not produced.
 14. Aninformation presentation controlling apparatus for an automotive vehicleas claimed in claim 11, wherein the information presentation controllingapparatus further comprises: a vehicular power supply off determiningsection that determines whether a vehicular power supply is turned offand wherein the accumulated mental fatigue value is reduced when thevehicular power supply off determining section determines that thevehicular power supply is turned off.
 15. An information presentationcontrolling apparatus for an automotive vehicle as claimed in claim 11,wherein the running environment information retrieving section retrievesproperty and kind of a road on which the vehicle is running and avehicular velocity, a road shape, a time, a day of a week, and weather.16. An information presentation controlling apparatus for an automotivevehicle as claimed in claim 11, wherein the running situation detectingsection detects whether a brake is suddenly manipulated so as to exceeda predetermined velocity, or whether a steering wheel of the vehicle issteered at a velocity exceeding a predetermined velocity, whether anaccelerator is suddenly manipulated, or whether a distance betweenanother vehicle and the vehicle which is running ahead of the vehicle isequal to or below a predetermined distance.
 17. An informationpresentation controlling method, comprising: detecting a running stateof a mobile body and a running environment thereof; calculating a mentalfatigue that an operator of the mobile body suffers due to an operationof the mobile body from a result of detecting the running state of themobile body and the running environment thereof; producing theinformation to the operator of the mobile body through a producingsection; and controlling the information to be produced to the operatorof the mobile body through the producing section in accordance with thecalculated mental fatigue.
 18. An information presentation controllingmethod for an automotive vehicle, comprising: retrieving an informationon a running environment of the vehicle; estimating a degree of a mentalfatigue that the vehicle driver would normally suffer during a drive ofthe vehicle from the retrieved running environment for eachpredetermined time interval; detecting a vehicular running situation;estimating a corrective mental fatigue that the vehicle driver wouldsuffer due to a sudden happening during the drive of the vehicle fromthe detected vehicular running situation for each predetermined timeinterval; adding the estimated corrective mental fatigue to theestimated mental fatigue so as to determine an accumulated mentalfatigue; and controlling a quantity of information to be presented tothe vehicle driver through a producing section in accordance with amagnitude of the accumulated mental fatigue.
 19. An informationpresentation controlling apparatus, comprising: detecting means fordetecting a running state of a mobile body and a running environmentthereof; mental fatigue calculating means for calculating a mentalfatigue that an operator of the mobile body suffers due to an operationof the mobile body from a result of detection by the detecting means;producing means for producing the information to the operator of themobile body; and information presentation controlling means forcontrolling the information to be produced to the operator of the mobilebody through the producing means in accordance with the mental fatiguecalculated by the mental fatigue calculating means.